Government Grants and Loans

Government grants need good community support to ensuresuccess. Your federal grants agency wants to know the communityis behind this project and their support is essential. If youwant to receive free grants you must network in your community!

Once your proposal has a good outline, look for individuals orgroups which your can raise support from in writing.

The type and quality of your community support is critical inthe initial and secondary reviews. Never underestimate how muchcommunity support can influence your agency giving governmentgrants. Many letters of support can be persuasive to gettingyour federal grants.

Do not overlook support form your local government agencies andpublic officials when trying to get free grants. Letters ofendorsement detailing exact areas of your project. And theircommitment are often requested as part of a proposal to yourfederal grants agency.

Several months may be required to develop letters of endorsementsince something of value (e.g., buildings, staff, services) issometimes negotiated between the parties involved.

Many agencies require, in writing, affiliation agreements (amutual agreement to share services between agencies) andbuilding space commitments prior to either federal grantsapproval or award.

A useful method of generating community support may be to holdmeetings with city council members and the top decision makersin the community who would be concerned with the subject matterof the proposal.

The topic for discussion may include a questions into the meritsof the government grants you are trying to get,

How to develop a contract of support for the proposal,

To produce data in support of the proposal,

Or come up with a strategy to create proposal support from alarge number of community groups.

When it comes to getting federal grants, networking in yourcommunity is always a good idea. People in your community mayhave some great ideas for getting free grants. Gettinggovernment grants without them is going to be almost impossible!

About the author:I am a college student who relies on government grants everyday.I built this free information and education website that helpsfind governmentgrants to promote economic development.

Robert Smethers, Sat Dec 10th